Stapleton: Victor Cruz, Giants will settle

Even in the worst-case scenario for the franchise and fans of the Salsa-dancing Paterson native, if the Giants get their way – and right now that appears inevitable – Cruz will not be free to join a new team until 2014, at the earliest.

And at this point, the path to a destination other than East Rutherford seems far too risky a road for the record-setting wide receiver to travel down.

There's no other way to assess Cruz's immediate future with the Giants, which is why team president and co-owner John Mara remains so confident the restricted free agent will remain in his team's No. 80 jersey, which he has made so incredibly popular.

Mara doesn't sound worried about a potential holdout by Cruz, one of the most important players to the Giants' success over the past two seasons, who is currently without a contract.

Echoing optimism he expressed two weeks ago, Mara told NFL Network on Tuesday morning that he expects the Giants and Cruz will come to a long-term agreement in the foreseeable future.

"I'm pretty confident that we'll end up reaching a deal with him," Mara said. "This is not that atypical a situation. Player contracts, particularly with star players like Victor, can tend to drag on from time to time. I think we'll get it done. This is the right place for him to play. He's a star in this area, he's an important part of our team, and I think we'll eventually get a deal done, but it's just a process that you have to go through. And we're going through it right now. There's communication, and it's slow but steady, and I think at some point we'll reach a deal."

The most significant part of Mara's take is the last part: the continued "communication" between Cruz, his representative, Tom Condon, and the Giants; because while it may be slow, it is steady. Cruz is weighing his options, of which there legitimately are two: sign a one-year tender worth $2.879 million with the Giants and become an unrestricted free agent next season; or agree to a long-term extension, likely a deal for four or five years to stay for what is believed to be nearly $8 million per season.

Cruz continues to engage in media silence, even though he remains a presence on Twitter, at Knicks games and various charity endeavors. It's in his best interests to say nothing publicly. The first real sign of any potential disconnect will be if Cruz is not under contract by the team's mandatory veterans' minicamp, which runs June 11-13.

Until then, if trying to predict Cruz's future with the Giants, the man who signs the paychecks usually has a good idea on how these things will turn out.